Canceled bus
by Streaks of moonlight
Summary: She was just a strange creature that managed to pique his interest. AU UlquiHime one-shot. Cover art by Rusky-boz.


**Ulquiorras P.O.V**

* * *

I wasn't used to seeing her so casually every morning. I would always be sitting on the seat further towards the back of the always crowded bus with earphones plugged into both of my ears, listening to the typical classical music that I was always fond to. I've never took the time to stop and look at everyone around me. They were all trash; I never did find any of them to be the least bit interesting nor worthy to be given too much of my attention. But apparently she had caught my attention.

Every morning I was always the first one on the bus. The only noise that I could hear would be the hum of the bus' engine and my musics volume set on medium. It wasn't until the next six stops did it start to get crowded. I didn't mind the chatter just as long as they left me alone. Communicating with brainless trash was rather irksome so I would often find my self tuning them out and letting my thoughts wander just like how I wander through life.

It was a simple routine. Come onto the bus, enjoy the peace while it lasted, adjust the volume of my music when it was needed, think about crucial things that I needed to do for work, then get off when the bus stopped at downtown. All was going fine until one of the bus routes had been canceled and the bus that I always went on was used as a substitute to replace the canceled bus.

At first, I hadn't expected much out of it. I knew that the bus would be even more crowded than it usually would be and that was it. I didn't know that a canceled bus could bring me to her.

It started when the bus stopped abruptly, causing me to hurtle forward and hit my forhead against the seat in front of me. I rubbed my forhead and scowled. It was just the fourth stop, there wasn't supposed to be anybody that came to this stop so early in the morning. I looked up and found myself staring at my orange haird suspect, the origin of the sore spot on my forehead.

She was frazzled, exhausted, and looking a bit lost. She was carrying something. What was that? I could make out a loaf of bread, a jar of red bean paste and wassabi that was peeking through the top of the plastic bag. Perhaps she was a chef of somewhere..?

The woman was chuckling sheepishly, rubbing her head in embarrassment as she apologized for the upteenth time to the bus driver who had by then ignored her. She sighed and began to look for an empty seat to sit on. Her glistening silver eyes met my deep emerald pair and for a moment, time froze. The bus driver wasn't there, the gentle hum of the bus went mute and the only thing that I could hear was my music which had began to play. _Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini _by Rachmanioff. Hm, how fitting.

The bus began to move again and the womans balance was thrown off, causing her to stumble onto the empty seat near her. Her face flushed into a scarlet shade and she bit her lip. For a moment, I could have sworn she had stolen a glance at my way for the second time before sitting down on her seat. What a wonderful way of ruining the moment, bus driver. No matter, that moment didn't mean anything. It was just a first glance between two strangers. With that thought implanted onto my head, I slowly averted my gaze away from her, ignoring the screaming protests inside of me and instead focused my attention onto the outside world beyond the window.

* * *

Four months later and it's now autumn. I still see the woman on the bus every morning at 10:15 sharp. I had grown accustomed to it by then unlike before. She still looked the same as she had looked the first time I saw her and for the past four months, I had gained a better grasp about her personality. The woman was a charming creature. With that all too optimistic smile planted onto her face whenever she received a call from one of her friends in the morning and her cheery replies. It was sickening.

Never had I seen a human so considerably happy. I'd only seen things like that on t.v and it wasn't a human that had such similar attitude. It was a sponge. Curse Jeagerjaques and that teal haired fiance of his... they shouldn't be watching too many cartoons. They were adults after all. They really should stop tricking me into coming over and watching with them. Waisting my time over such absurd things like watching cartoons was unacceptable.

The woman stole glances towards me several times. Maybe she was also staring at my way when I'm really not looking. I wasn't sure. But what I was sure of though was that there was something in her eyes whenever she did look at me. It looked like... longing. Like she wanted to come to me but she couldn't. I knew better than to know that that was what she was really thinking. One can only hope, right?

I sat back into my seat as the bus stopped for the passanger that I was expecting. I let my eyes rest onto the book in front of me but I continued to observe her from my peripheral. The woman looked... different. There was blush on her cheeks, eye shaddow surrounding the lids of her eyes along with eye liner, and a thin layer of lip stick on her lips. It looked so unnatural. Was she trying to woo someone? Was this someone her co-worker? Or maybe it was a new customer that she found appealing..?

Unconsciously, my grip on the book tightened and my lips pursed. My eyes widened a fraction in shock at the thought that I was being bothered by such a thing and I let my grip loosen. It shouldn't matter to me. She was not mine. I didn't even know her name. I slammed the book shut, feeling suddenly crest fallen and changed the music on my ipod. I shouldn't be bothered by this. I will not be bothered by this. I repeated this several times but why does it feel like I'm being stabbed in the chest every time I do?

* * *

Snow.

It was a beautiful thing. Its pureness, its simplicity; it never ceases to leave me breathless. I found myself looking forward to the first snow of the month. Every morning I would always gaze outside the bus with that little sprinkle of hope, like a little kid waiting for their presents eagerly from Santa on the night of Christmas eve. But my attention would go astray when the woman was not on the bus. She wasn't waiting at the bus stop as well.

On the second week of December, I was suddenly eager to seeing the woman more than the snow. Not seeing her for such a long time was unsettling. I couldn't stand it. My eyes would wander more to the entrance of the bus and I would be frowning even more every time the bus would pass her bus stop.

My cell began to vibrate and I pressed the answer button.

"Grimmjow, is something the matter?"

"No, why the hell would you think there'd be something wrong?"

"It's 10 in the morning. You are usually sleeping during this time," I replied blandly.

"Hey, I don't always sleep in!" I held the phone away from my ear. He was in denial and I did say 'usually', not 'always'. The idiot.

"What do you want?" I sighed, not wanting to deal with his shenanigans. I already had enough to deal with what with my false hopes. Nothing can tire you out more than really expecting something that doesn't happen.

"The meeting today's gonna end later than usual. Not sure if you already knew, but some dude from another company wanted a chat with everyone."

"Hmm, is that all?"

"Yup."

"Alright. If that is it then I will see you at the meeting." Without letting the other man give his reply, I hung up and placed my phone back in my pocket. This was certainly going to be an interesting day at work.

* * *

I walked into the bus later than I usually would have entered that cold evening. The bus was half crowded with empty seats scattered everywhere. I took my typical seat in the back near the window. An elder currently occupied the seat next to mines but I didn't care. I took out my ear phones and plugged it into my ears, adjusting my coat before I relaxed.

My world was full again with the music accompanying me. Hm, was it really though..? Months ago, I would've that that it really would have been full. But without the woman... I shook my head and focused on the scenery outside. Such troublesome thoughts... They had no place in my mind. They didn't belong there. It was too foreign.

A few stops later and a familiar blob of orange caught my eyes. I looked at her, concealing my delightfulness at the sight of her by calmly closing my book and placing it back into my bag. At the same stop, the elder sitting next to me got up and exited the bus. The woman looked at me and then the empty seat beside me. An expression passed her face and I found myself confused. What was that expression? As I pondered over what to make of her expression, she casually made her way through the crowd on the bus and to the seat beside me.

"Is this seat taken?" she asked, her cheerful voice masking the tired tone hidden beneath it. I shook my head in response and looked away from her, noting the lack of energy in her movement. She seemed exhausted. She sat down and I did my best to ignore the comforting heat that emitted from her body.

I didn't know her. She didn't know me. We were just stangers that saw each other on the bus. I repeated that chant in my head, and again, I could feel the stabbing in my chest as I did so. Suddenly, I could feel something on my shoulder. I looked at my shoulder and saw the woman slumped over to me, sleeping peacefully.

The evening sunshine showered her, making her physical characteristics glow. Her lashes rested against her cheeks. Her slightly blue lips were parted slighty, every so often a puff of condensation escaping through it whenever she exhaled. She shivered and huddled closer to me. I remained stiff, not bothering to relax against her nor push her away. The heating of the bus was poor. I was going to have to put a complaint about that later.

The bus bounced against a bump on the road slightly and a wisp of her ginger colored hair fell over her face. Gently, I pushed it away from her face, bothered that it blocked her face which wasn't caked with make up. I tucked it behind her ear and pulled away, letting my gaze softly rest on her naturally glowing skin.

Why her? Why did my chest pound so painfully at the sight of her? Why was I always looking forward to seeing her every morning and then be so upset when she didn't show up? As much as I was reluctant to admit it, I was drawn to her. That's all I could surmise. But how could such a normal woman like her make a nihilist like myself coax so many emotions out at once? She was indeed a strange, mystifying, and charming creature.

"Look mommy, snow!" a little boy exclaimed, bringing me out of my reverie. I tore my gaze away from the woman and looked outside. It indeed was snowing. A tad bit early, but it was still there none the less. For once, I didn't let my eyes admire the snow. Instead, I admired the creature resting on my shoulder.

"Merry Christmas," I murmured. The woman let out a soft genuine smile that made me wonder if she really was sleeping.

* * *

**A/U: Ever since school started, I've been using the city bus every morning and one special morning later, I was inspired.**

***cue fanfare***

**This is the first time I've done Ulquiorras point of view and I must admit, for a really boring guy with no emotions, taking a peak into his world (in AU of course) was really fun *^* A quiet guy like him has got to have a bajillion thoughts in that head, am I right?**

**Anyway, if anyone's been inspired and wants to do a one shot that compliments this one but with Orihimes P.O.V, let me know! I'd like to read it :'D**

**Thanks for reading and reviews are gladly appreciated!**

**- Streaks Of Moonlight**


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